People skate on frozen canals in Kinderdijk’s Mill Area, a UNESCO World Heritage site, near Rotterdam, Netherlands, Saturday Jan. 3, 2009. Kinderdijk, where the mills date back to the 18th century, is a good example of a low countries area where water management is carefully organised with a system of historic mills and waterways. (Photo credit AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
By posting your comment you agree to the Macleans.ca terms of service and privacy policy.
To add an avatar to your comment, please visit gravatar.com and register the email you use to comment on this site.
Comment
Contrary to popular belief, the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame at the Opening Ceremonies is, in fact, a decidedly modern affair. The culmination of the torch relay in a grandiose display at the Opening Ceremonies is a relic of the 1936 Berlin Games—just one of many attempts by the Nazi regime to lend a mythical air to the Games. Still, despite its dubious history, the lighting of the cauldron has evolved into one of the most spectacular and ostentatious displays at the Games. And the secretiveness that surrounds the lead-up to the ceremony only lends to the hype.
When it comes to the 2010 Games, the speculation about who will be selected to light the cauldron has coalesced around whether VANOC will go the traditional route and opt for a former Olympian or take the road less-travelled and pick someone from outside the sports world. Facebook groups have popped up promoting everyone from Terry Fox’s mother, Betty, to former Vancouver Canucks captain Trevor Linden. So far, Vancouver’s Olympic organizers have kept a tight lid on who the potential candidates might be. We’ve assembled a list of the names making the rounds, but feel free to add your own in the poll or in the comments below.
Re: Skating on the Canal
It seldom freezes hard enough for skating on canals in Holland, especially this early in the winter. If there is much more of this global warming…
Lou